Here's the beautiful thing about scar tissue...

When you get hurt and sprain/strain something or experience a wound, your body quickly kicks into gear and starts laying down a bunch of scar tissue for protection and healing.

It happens a little haphazardly, and the new fibres get mixed up in different directions, instead of in exact alignment with what's already there.

And your body’s doing the best it can to heal the space that was created and opened from the injury. 
 

And while that new tissue is stronger, it's also less organized, which can lead to movements happening differently now; either something new came into play, or because it feels different, there's avoidance due to fear or pain, or lack of awareness on how to adjust.

So while it's clear that specific area has changed as the healing process keeps going, the expectation of how the rest of the body moves may not have shifted alongside that tissue change.

And so you get to teach the injured area, the surrounding areas, and yourself, how to adapt and remodel. It takes practice, time, consistency, compassion, and often some ups and downs of pain or nervousness on the way.

It'll get there, though. 
The quality and ability of scar tissue can improve.

The key is opening (your mind) to it, instead of fighting it.

“Scars” has been a funny word for me, for awhile.

I have scars on my hip that resulted from surgeries after my dance injuries. There's one on my ribs from when I bailed on a bike ride as a kid and slid through some gravel. And a couple are inside my knee from when I mis-landed a jump in the gym and went straight shin to plyo box and ruptured the PCL, or when I tripped going down some stairs and tore the meniscus. There's also scars on my heart from it breaking open, from stories other people told me that I believed, and the ones I told myself.
 

It takes consistent self-talk to remember that there's difference between the scar, and the wound…that messy part that hurt, that happened because something went wrong, or wasn't meant for me. 

What if the scar is a reminder of the accomplishment? A signal of resilience, courage, and adaptation? Growth?

So that pain? That scary part? That adaptation? The challenge of getting back to play/sport/work/life? It doesn’t mean the wound is opening up again, or that re-injury and re-living what happened, is going to come back to punch you in the face and throw you back into the past.

It means you’re growing.
Because scar tissue* is pretty strong.
Stronger than what was there before.
 💛

*you’re pretty strong